Part 44 (1/2)

The breeze came froan to lided on but slowly; the pirates were still gaining on us The wind, however, freshened

As atched our pursuers, first one raised ataper yard, then another, and they were soon under all sail standing after us

The breeze increased; we gave a cheer, hoping soon to get well ahead of them Still on they came, and it seemed very doubtful whether we should succeed I believe that soht than have escaped without it

The pirates, by keeping their oars ht have supposed that it was a side or not, but our cargo was too valuable to risk the chance of being lost We had soon studding-sails rigged below and aloft Again the wind dropped, and the pirates were now almost within uns, and run it through the after port, Griffiths,” said the captain ”A shot or till teach the rascals what to expect should they coun run out the wind again freshened

The _Intrepid_, deep in the water though she was, showed that she had not lost her power of sailing Though the pirates were straining every nerve, we once more drew ahead of them The more the breeze increased the faster we left theot fully fouraloft we could see theain becalht we continued our course for Tih the captain remained on deck, and a sharp look-out was kept astern However, as long as the breeze continued we had no fear of being overtaken

It was ht I went aloft, and saw the proas the sahtfall I told Mr Griffiths when I came below

”The rascals still expect to catch us,” he said, ”but we must hope that they'll be disappointed However, we're prepared for them”

For soain fell, and our pursuers crept closer to us It was soh it did not spoil our appetites The whole of the day they were in sight, but when the wind freshened up again in the evening we once ht passed as the former had done We could not tell ent belohat ht for our lives I for one did not sleep the worse for that

The breeze was pretty steady during the ain till it was broad daylight The second mate, who had been aloft, reported that the pirates were still in sight, but farther off than they were the day before, and the breeze now freshening, their hulls sank beneath the horizon, and we fully expected to see noGely, and in the evening brought up in a small bay, with a town on its shore, called Cushbab Our object was to obtain vegetables and buffalo uese Nearly all those we , sharp knives, in their belt, which they use on the slightest provocation Every boyhad a cock under his arhting They are very fond of the birds, which are of enorlish cocks Being unable to obtain any buffaloes here, we got under way, and anchored in another bay some way to the west, where we obtained twelve aniot them on board, but in a few hours became tame, and would eat out of our hands They were destined, however, for the butcher's knife Soer quantity was salted down for sea stores The unsalted e piece overboard

The instant it reached the water up ca each other in the ether, although there was enough for both of the the south-east coast of Java, and then shaped a course across the Indian Ocean for the Cape of Good Hope

The as fair, the sea ser period of fine weather In consequence of the light winds our passage was lengthenedshort of provisions of all sorts There were still two casks of bread left, each containing about four hundred-weight

”Never h to take us to the Cape”

At length the first was finished, and ent below to get up the second It was h, but when the carpenter knocked in the head, as our disly branded! The captain at once ordered a search to be made in the store-room for other provisions The buffaloturned bad; and besides one cask of pork, which proved to be almost rancid, a couple of pounds of flour with a few other trifling articles, not a particle of food remained in the shi+p Starvation stared us in the face

CHAPTER THIRTY

THE VOYAGE HOME, AND HOW IT ENDED

On hearing of the alar scarcity of food on board, the captain called the crew aft

”Lads,” he said, ”I don't want to hide anything from you Should the wind shi+ft to the ard, it may be a month or more before we reach the Cape, so if you wish to save your lives, you must at once be put on a short allowance of food and water A quarter of a pint of water, two ounces of pork, and half an ounce of flour is all I can allow for each man, and the officers and I will share alike with you”

Not a as said in reply, and the o farther we h nauseous in the extreether

At first the crew bore it pretty well, but they soon took to gru to the captain's want of forethought in not laying in more provisions that ere reduced to this state

Hitherto the wind had been fair, but any day it e, and then, they asked, ould become of us? Most of them would have broken into open mutiny had not they known that the mates and doctor, Jack and I, Jim, and probably Brown and Soper, would have sided with the captain, though we felt that they were not altogether wrong in their accusation